Vitamin D Deficiency and the Risk of Metabolic Syndrome within the Qatar Biobank: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background Despite the long hours of sunlight in Qatar and other regions of the Middle East, vitamin D deficiency ( < 20 ng/mL) has been rising. There are many factors that affect the synthesis of vitamin D including age, ethnicity, skin pigmentation, anthropometric measures, diet, smoking, physical activity, cholesterol levels, and sunscreen usage. In parallel, the prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome has also been increasing in Qatar. Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with adiposity and metabolic syndrome but data are inconsistent. Individual factors of metabolic syndrome including abdominal obesity, lipid profiles, blood glucose, and blood pressure have also shown inconsistent associations with low vitamin D levels. To date, none of these relationships have been explored in a Middle Eastern population characterised by high prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome. Objectives The aim of this study is to investigate the interrelationship of anthropometric measures (height, waist circum...